4.13 Summary

There are nearly 29,000 employed Maltese-born persons in Australia. The majority of these are in the 35-44 age group with very few aged less than 24 years. The number of women in full time employment is less than one third of the total work force. They are employed largely in the manufacturing trades and other manual work.

Although there is some convergence to the Australian average in the second generation, there is still a marked reduction in the proportion of professorial and administrative professions.

The number of Maltese-born unemployed was 1.6 thousand which is about 5% of the population. However, the proportion of Maltese-born unemployed for 24 months or longer (28.9%) is 1.6 times the Australian average. In particular, the proportion of unemployed persons aged 35 years and over (68.4%) is nearly three times the Australian average (24.0%).

Government benefits received by Maltese-born are mainly for dependent spouses and children and relatively less for unemployment. In fact, there are relatively less Maltese receiving benefits than expected on the basis of number in the population compared to the Australian population.

These data confirm that the Maltese-born in Australia form a group which is heavily skewed towards the blue- collar workers with corresponding deficit in income. On the positive side, the marked homogeneity of incomes indicate that there is little variation between highest and lowest incomes. This confirms the subjective impression that as a whole the Maltese-born are reasonably well-off and self-sufficient, with relatively smaller proportions on the poverty line

Compared with the average Australian-born population, the Maltese have twice as many in the 35-44 years age group. They are 2.7 times more likely to be employed in the manufacturing trades and only third as likely to be in the professional or administrative grades. The proportion of women to men in full time employment is less for Maltese-born than for any other ethnic group. Although the mean is about 83% of the average Australian, the distribution of is more homogeneous for Maltese-born than for any other ethnic group.

Source: Maurice N. Cauchi - Maltese Migrants in Australia, Malta 1990

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